Appalachian Chic

Super Soup

 Chicken, Collard Greens and Sweet Potato Stew

From Whole Living December 2011

 

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 Boneless and skinless chicken breasts (8 oz each)

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 Onion, chopped

1 Stalk of celery,diced

1/4 cup of Apple cider vinegar

1 lb Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced

2 cups of Collard Greens,chopped

4 cups of Chicken Stock

1 1/2 cups of Cooked brown rice

 

1. In a heavy-bottomed stock pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and sear golden brown and cooked through, about 5 min each side. Set aside.

2. Add onion and celery and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Deglaze with vinegar,scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add sweet potatoes, collards,stock and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil,reduce heat and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Shred chicken, add to pot, and cook until heated through. Stir in rice and season with salt and pepper.

 

Serve with crusty Artisan Bread! Yum!

What's For Dinner

         Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumpling Recipe

3 quarts water 
1 3-4 pound chicken cut up 
1 1/2 teaspoons salt 
1 small onion sliced 
2 stalks celery, chopped 
1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered 
1 bay leaf 
4-6 whole parsley leaves 
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 
1 tablespoon lemon juice 

Dumplings 

2 cups all purpose flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt 
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk 

1. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and parsley to the pot. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook the chicken, uncovered, for 2 hours. The liquid will reduce by about one third. 

2. When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the pot and set it aside. Strain the stock to remove all the vegetables and floating scum. You only want the stock and the chicken, so toss everything else out. 

3. Pour 1 1/2 quarts (6 cups) of the stock back into the pot (keep the leftover stock, if any, for another recipe-it can be frozen). You may also want to use a smaller pot or a large saucepan for this. Add coarsely ground pepper, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the lemon juice, then reheat the stock over medium heat while preparing the dumplings. 

4. For dumplings, combine the flour, baking powder, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and milk in a medium bowl. Stir well until smooth, then let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about a 1/2 inch thickness. 

5. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch squares and drop each square into the simmering stock. Use all of the dough. The dumplings will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock into a white gravy. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until thick. Stir often. 

6. While the stock is thickening, the chicken will have become cool enough to handle. Tear all the meat from the bones and remove the skin. Cut the chicken meat into bite-size or a little bigger than bite-size pieces and drop them into the pot. Discard the skin and bones. Continue to simmer the chicken and dumplings for another 5-10 minutes, but don't stir too vigorously or the chicken will shred and fall apart. You want big chunks of chicken in the end. 

7. When the gravy has reached the desired consistency, ladle four portions onto plates and serve hot. Serve with your choice of steamed vegetables, if desired.

 

From: cookingcache.com

An Evening On the Polar Express

  Last night Jack had his first train ride in Bryson City, North Carolina on the Polar Express. A night filled with good treats, hot chocolate, singing, dancing and a visit to the North Pole to see Santa Claus!

Soup's On!

  My husband found this wonderful farm share program here in D.C.! Arganica delivered two crates of beautiful vegetables, meats, beer,flour,eggs,and tofu to our door early this morning. So the soup pot started to cook our yummy vegetables in a delicious autumnal treat for dinner!

Early Morning Pancakes

  The time change has disrupted our little family schedule here in Washington D.C. Jack decided to wake up at 5:30 am instead of 6:30 am. Jack also requested some blueberry pancakes! I needed a big cup of coffee!

  My favorite recipe for blueberry pancakes is John Besh's which, was featured in Everyday Food's Summer Special Issue 2011 or you can get it in his new cookbook My Family Table. I used sucanat sugar instead of refined. Makes a large 6 servings which, we freeze.

Slow Saturday

  This Saturday morning we are taking it easy. Thought a good start for the weekend would be a fresh loaf of sandwich bread. Oh, it smells so good!

Fall Soup

 I am a big fan of the blog beauty that moves. This past summer I participated in her 30 day Vegan class and just recently thought we should participate in her grocery store challenge.

 Due to my husband's job in the Coast Guard we recently moved to Washington D.C. We have been in sticker shock with a lot of things but mostly groceries. This week we have joined in her challenge. Our goal is $600.00 for the month of November. We have been planning meals, consciously being aware of what we put in our carts and trying to use what is in our pantry. I have realized that one pot meals last longer in our kitchen. Since my husband brings in his lunches I am also trying to make our own bread again. We use the bread more rather than the pre-packaged.

  Last night we made Heather's Butternut Squash and Apple soup with an herb bread.  I found  a Vegetarian cookbook in our local library's book sale from last week that I got the herb bread in. My husband is a a meat man, and even though he likes his meat he loved this soup.

 

From Beauty that Moves

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash (medium/large) - peeled, seeded and cubed 4 apples - peeled, seeded and chopped (I like Cortland) 1 large onion - peeled and chopped 3 cloves garlic - peeled

4 cups vegetable stock 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg sea salt & black pepper to taste

Directions: 1. Place all prepared ingredients in a large soup pot. 2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 3. Cover. Turn heat down to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. 4. Check the squash with a fork for tenderness - if not cooked through, continue simmering for another 10

minutes or so. 5. Turn off the heat. 6. At this point, if you have the time, remove the lid and let it cool for 20 minutes of so. Otherwise, just

carefully move on to the next step. 7. In 2-3 cup batches, puree the soup in a blender (pouring it into another bowl after). 8. Once all the soup is pureed, return to the soup pot for a gentle reheat if needed, and serve.

Garnish:

Tamari roasted pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds.

What's Cooking

     Fall is my favorite time of the year! Beautiful foliage,pumpkins,apples, playing in leaf piles, corn mazes,apple sauce, turkey, my Mom's famous dressing, pumpkin bread, and the list goes on! Most of all I love to cook warm hearty meals.

   This week I was inspired to cook Pinto Bean Cakes from my favorite restaurant in Charleston, SC Hominy Grill. 

 

Pinto Bean Cakes

From The Hominy Grill Cookbook

1 cup dried pinto beans
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/3 cup celery
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup scallion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon tabasco
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
flour for dredging

Soak dried beans in water overnight. Or follow instructions on bean package for quick soak.

Drain and rinse beans. In a medium saucepan, cover them with water. Bring to a boil and cook, over medium high heat until tender, 45 minutes. Set aside 1/4 of the beans.

In a food processor, combine the rest of the beans with eggs, cheese, celery, parsley, scallions, lemon zest. Pulse to make a rough paste. Remove to a medium bowl.

Mix in bread crumbs, olive oil, Tabasco, salt, pepper and reserved whole beans. Stir lightly to combine all ingredients.

Divide the mixture into 12 even patties.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Working in two batches, pat the cakes with flour and brown the cakes in the pan, cooking until they are browned, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook another 3 minutes. Repeat with remaining patties.

 

  Beans cooked in my pressure cooker. My new favorite kitchen tool!

     Dinner is served!

Out to Lunch!

 Yesterday my Mom and I got some well deserved time together in Charleston. We decided to go to our favorite southern eatery Hominy Grill! I ordered the veggie plate with a thick slice of southern cornbread! Yum!

Funday Sunday

Our Sunday was filled with exploration and fun! The morning started out with a puppet show at the Puppet Co. at Glen Echo Park , a ride on the vintage carousel and vegetarian pad Thai for dinner...compliments to Heather!!!